The Enemy of my Enemy
by AbyssalCaesar
Summary: Sylux is at the end of his tether with Samus and in order to take down the accursed hunter forms an alliance with Weavel, Kanden, Trace, Noxus and Spire. The hunt is on as all six hunters close in with Samus' head as the prize.   Chapter 12 up!
1. Sylux has a brainwave

**The enemy of my enemy…**

_Alimbic Cluster, __Delano 7_

Sylux finished his analysis of the latest scans of the Alimbic Cluster and snarled with rage. She'd done it again. Yet another Octolith energy signature had disappeared from his readings, this time on Alinos, and Sylux knew just who was responsible. Who had constantly foiled his plans? Who had led the accursed Federation's attack on Cylosis? And who had just got her hands on her 6th Octolith! Samus Aran the most hated of all of Sylux's foes.

Sylux allowed himself to think back to the day the Federation descended on Cylosis and attacked and destroyed anything and everything. No one was above suspicion of being involved with the dangerous and subversive Zoarlaktian Coalition, a sworn enemy of the Galactic Federation. Pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears of soldiers who reverted to a near bestial state. Leading the charge against the beleaguered defence forces was the orange armoured hunter Samus Aran who slaughtered her way through every living thing that stood against her. What had Sylux done in all this? He had fled and his cowardly flight from his home world still stung him to his core. But he was going to make it all better; he had vowed vengeance on Samus and the Federation. Cylosis' ghost could be laid to rest.

After he had finished raging at the interior of the Delano 7, Sylux began strategically thinking through all the ways he could enact his revenge. He could continue doing what he had been doing and track Samus waiting for the right opportunity to strike her down. Unfortunately this had proved unsuccessful. He could attempt to lure Samus into the path of some of the Alimbic's fearsome machines but so far she had swatted them aside as she had any other creature that had dared to stand against her. Sylux sighed, "Oh well" he thought, "she might get killed by the other hunters…" Then it hit him, _the other hunters_, he knew he wasn't the only hunter who wanted Aran dead and who sought the Ultimate Power so if they shared a common goal why fight amongst each other while Samus was running around the cluster getting closer to her goal. Sylux typed in the co-ordinates for the Celestial Archives and set off to make preparations for the summoning of his soon to be allies.


	2. Weavel arrives

_Alimbic Cluster, Celestial Archives, Helm Room_

It had been easy for Sylux to access the Celestial Archives and plant the device that would broadcast his chosen message all throughout the cluster. A short repeating message: "Hunters, gather to bring down Samus who holds the six". It was irresistible. It had occurred to Sylux that Samus may very well come running to the beacon to take it out but his supreme technical knowledge and in-depth analysis of Samus's gunship during dogfights had allowed him to effectively censor the beacon so Samus would be unable to pick it up. All Sylux had to do was wait and prepare to make some friends, something he normally wasn't good at.

It was less than an hour later that Sylux's scans detected another gunship heading for the archives. Further scans told him the occupant was the cybernetic space pirate Weavel. "Excellent!" Sylux thought, here was someone who despised Samus as much as him! He knew that out of all the other hunters that he knew had come to the cluster Weavel was the most likely to consider an alliance to take down Aran so he was naturally optimistic when he heard the approach of feet in the adjoining corridor to the Helm Room.

The hatch opened and the clanking cybernetic abomination marched into the room Battlehammer raised. Weavel scanned the room and soon laid eyes on Sylux. If Weavel showed surprise was impossible to tell due to the reflective visor shielding the mangled remnants of Weavel's face. Sylux approached Shock Coil lowered and spoke as one might speak to an old friend. "Greetings Weavel how goes your hunting?" Sylux inquired good-naturedly. "As fruitless as yours is proving to be I expect," was the grating monotone reply. "Then it will be no surprise to you when I suggest we form an allegiance with the other hunters to bring down the hated Samus Aran," Sylux replied. There was silence for a good few seconds before Weavel replied, "Alliance accepted." Sylux smiled menacingly underneath his helmet. This was a good start; he could almost imagine the shock on Samus' face when they descended on her for the kill. That would be a moment to savour…


	3. Things turn frosty

_Alimbic Cluster, Celestial Archives, Helm Room_

The next hunter arrived hot on the tail of the last one. Noxus the Vhozon Judicator landed his sleek Vhozon Blizzard-Class Gunship and made swift progress towards the beacon. Sylux knew that Noxus' only goal was to stop the Ultimate Power falling into what he called the "wrong hands" and as a fanatical member of the Vhozon's ultra-religious Judge Caste was unlikely to enter an alliance with what he saw as "evil beings."

Sylux glanced over at Weavel who had adopted a fighting stance and had his gun trained firmly on the door. Sylux moved to position himself just to the side of the door so he could ambush Noxus and would already be in range to use his Shock Coil. There was a period of silence and then Sylux heard a sound on the other side of the door that he couldn't quite place.

Suddenly the hatch shot open and Noxus leapt through Judicator already fully charged. Twirling in mid-air he aimed his weapon at Sylux and fired, freezing him solid. Warnings flashed all across Sylux's suit's HUD and the external temperature told him the ice was almost at absolute zero. Gathering his strength Sylux smashed clean through the ice falling to his knees as he recovered and watched as Weavel took Noxus on in combat.

Weavel was backing away across the Helm Room hiding behind the 10 metre tall metal cube containing the Synergy Drive and firing Battlehammer shots at Noxus who either dodged athletically or simply dissipated the projectiles with his Judicator and all the while was getting closer to Weavel. Seemingly realising this Weavel drew his energy scythe and leapt at Noxus who seemingly had not been expecting this. Noxus only just avoided a possibly fatal blow on the merit of his hardened exoskeleton which meant the blade did not penetrate properly and simply left a large scratch on his torso. Weavel drew his blade back for another attack but Noxus was prepared and crafted a block of ice that he swung at Weavel knocking Weavel of balance. Noxus deftly dodged another swipe and entered into his Vhoscyhte form, knocking Weavel's legs out from under him. Weavel managed to grab hold of the Vhoscyhte and it was only his cybernetic body that prevented his arm from being ripped off by the whirling appendage. Weavel swung Noxus by his arm round his head once, twice, thrice before hurling him to the floor. If Weavel could show expression it would have been one of horror and amazement as Noxus picked himself up off the floor and prepared to do battle again.

Sylux chose this moment to intervene and yelled across the room "Stop fighting let me tell you who the true enemy is here!" A flicker of intrigue crossed Noxus' face as Weavel lowered his weapons and appeared to relax. "Pray tell lowly vermin, what is it that you mean?" Noxus' echoing voice resonated around the room. Weavel answered him, "Samus Aran is now in possession of six Octoliths and alone we will find is almost impossible to reclaim them." Noxus responded "What you say is true but I would not sully the great name of Vho by aligning myself to your wicked cause for as I want the Ultimate Power for maintaining balance in the universe you would surely use it for evil" It was Sylux who answered him this time "We are not talking about a permanent alliance simply a balancing of the odds." Noxus considered for a minute before accepting. "Very well, for it is true the Galactic Federation is an organization rife with corruption and to let Samus hand the Ultimate Power to them could prove disastrous but know this, as soon as Aran is dealt with I will waste no time disposing of you also if you do not hand over the Octoliths." Weavel walked over to Sylux who muttered to him dryly, "For a horrible moment I thought that was going to turn nasty." Weavel grunted and went to repair the damage done to his suit.


	4. Spire joins the team

_Alimbic Cluster, Celestial Archives, Helm Room_

"Incoming," Sylux yelled as Spire, the Diamont, ploughed clean through the hatch as if it was made of plastic. Shards of metal flew across the room and Spire screeched to a halt and glanced around the room. Catching sight of the beacon Spire ambled towards it with thundering footsteps. Sylux emerged from his hiding place and gestured for Weavel and Noxus to do the same. Spire whirled round at the sound of their approach "It's a trap!" He bellowed tucking up into a ball and charging at the three hunters who leapt over the Dialanche that came screeching towards them kicking up sparks from the floor as it went. Expecting it to carry on going and smash into a wall, they were horrified when it suddenly changed trajectory and careered back at them and sent them flying like skittles. Sylux yelled at Noxus to freeze the floor. The vhozon nodded and descended to his knees and placed both hands on the floor. From them a sheet of ice emanated and soon covered the area around him. Spire, spotting Noxus kneeling alone, charged again but soon lost control and began skidding erratically across the floor. Weavel leapt out from his cover and fired a single shot at the ground in front of Spire and sent the Diamont flying through the air into the column like Port Helm obliterating it. "Oh well", Sylux thought "it's not like the Alimbics are going to come and claim on the insurance."

Sylux advanced cautiously through the smoke coming from the pillar and shouted into it "Spire we just want an alliance not a fight. What do you say?" A groaning and shifting of an enormous bulk answered him and Spire lumbered out of the smoke clutching his head. "Snow Master's power is very impressive but I have no reason to join you." Noxus stepped up clearly pleased with being called "Snow Master".

"Noble Diamont you seek information on the fate of your distinguished people, well help us reclaim the Ultimate Power from Samus who holds six Octoliths and I promise I will do what I can to help you find solace". Spire replied "Thank you Snow Master, I shall join this alliance with you, the Leech and Iron Soldier." Sylux wished Spire would call him something else but he knew he could use this indestructible powerhouse as a brilliant distraction for Samus while he moved in for the kill. Now he had three allies; only Kanden and Trace to go.


	5. Kanden attacks!

_Alimbic Cluster, Celestial Archives, Helm Room_

Sylux had begun to wonder if the other hunters were coming and considered that four should be enough to overpower Aran when suddenly Weavel froze, stopped inserting ammunition into his weapon and ordered the others to be silent. Noxus and Spire stopped; and listened as well. It was faint and indistinct but they could hear the faint sound of something moving coming from above them. _Above them!_ Sylux' gaze shot upwards there was nothing above the ceiling except piping and ducts and beyond that the vacuum of space. The noise increased in volume until Sylux was sure it was right on top of them. Sylux tried to scan the area but for some reason his HUD was experiencing some kind of static interference and could not get a lock on that area.

Suddenly a clawed hand erupted through the roof and tore a huge hole in the metal letting bits and pieces drop to the ground as mangled pieces of scrap. In the darkness above where the plate used to be, four sulphurous yellow eyes glowered down on them. An invisible ripple of unseen muscles and grating of various plates of an exoskeleton preceded the creature launching itself from the dark with the ferocity of a viper. Kanden's shining yellow and black form plummeted towards the ground and a screeching roar escaped its "mouth" As it fell Kanden's body appeared to have electrical currents running across its body and tiny lightning bolts zapped off it in all directions.

With colossal force Kanden struck the ground making an enormous crater and the shockwave that discharged from its body uprooted many floor panels and sent a lethal current searing through the other hunters who were thrown back against a wall. A throaty laugh echoed from Kanden who leapt across the room to seemingly finish Noxus who had caught the worst of the blast and had a lot of rubble on top of him. Kanden's flight path was interrupted rather abruptly by Spire's fist. Spire followed it up with a swing from his other fist and Kanden went flying with a cry of indignation. Sylux too leapt after Kanden and the Shock Coil began draining the energy from the beast. Kanden realising this leapt for Sylux claws outstretched to tear him apart but Sylux activated another of the Shock Coil's features. Instead of a tendril coming out of the gun a disc of energy formed and acted as a shield for Sylux from Kanden's manic assault repelling Kanden if he got too close. Kanden was not perturbed however, and charged up his Volt Driver and let rip into the shield causing it to dissipate and scrambling Sylux's vision.

Sylux just managed to make out the sight of Kanden leaping onto Spire and proceeding to unload Volt Driver shots into him while Spire flailed trying to get him off. Sylux shot a Shock Coil tendril and managed to get a fix on Kanden's chest. Using all his might he managed to pull Kanden off Spire. Kanden snarled with pain as the Shock Coil sapped its strength. Sylux dared to hope this might be enough to incapacitate it but Kanden charged at Sylux and landed a vicious uppercut on Sylux knocking him to the floor. Weavel leapt out of nowhere scythe raised but Kanden, anticipating the danger ducked the swipe and grabbled with Weavel before head-butting the pirate in the face. Kanden then bent back down over Sylux and was about to pummel him to dust when Spire lifted Kanden clean off his feet and pinned him with his arms.

Noxus and Weavel ran over and pointed their guns at Kanden's head. With great effort Sylux managed to get back on his feet and just about managed to force a speech out. "Kanden your combat skill is unsurpassable which is exactly why we need your help in bringing down Samus Aran. Do you understand? We need to become allies to get to the Ultimate Power." At those last two words Kanden's eyes widened and its body relaxed. "For the ultimate Power?" It asked in its raspy voice. "Yes" Sylux answered now thoroughly tired of negotiating with various life forms he wanted on his team. "For the Ultimate Power." He muttered wearily and nodded for Spire to release Kanden from his vice like grip. "The Ultimate Power is all that matters" Kanden stated. "Observing you will also be helpful for my mission to establish myself as the perfect solider. Consider me your ally."


	6. Hidden ally

_Alimbic Cluster, Celestial Archives, Helm Room_

Deciding not to wait any longer the hunters began planning how they would defeat Samus and what would happen once they had achieved that. Sylux and Weavel both wanted possession of Samus to torture and kill at their discretion but Noxus maintained the quest was for the Octoliths not petty vengeance and if they could get the Octoliths without taking her life so much the better as it would mean less of a fight. Spire agreed with Noxus as he simply wanted to find out about his people and questioned whether they could actually talk Samus into giving them up peacefully. "Fat chance" Sylux thought. Samus would have to die and he knew Weavel and Kanden would support him in that. Kanden wanted nothing more than a good fight and appeared to be quivering in anticipation for the chance of a bloodbath. Kanden would be easy to control but if he did not get to engage in a fight then he may turn on them sooner rather than later.

Sylux glanced over at the enoema and at first feared his thoughts were about to become a reality. Kanden appeared to be sniffing the air and was twitching manically and despite Noxus's attempts to bring his attention back to the conversation he would not respond. Finally Kanden stopped "something is here" it hissed.

At once the other hunters were on their feet weapons primed and looking for the phantom entity. The room was silent except for the sound of Kanden sniffing the air. Eventually it froze and its head slowly turned to glare at a pair of seemingly unthreatening and unremarkable storage crates propped in a corner of the room. Seemingly understanding this movement Noxus and Weavel began advancing on the crates weapons raised and ready to deal with whatever was hiding there.

When they were less than 3 metres away Sylux noticed what seemingly no one else had. He could only describe it as a flicker in the air. Only visible for the briefest of moments but he was sure of it; a brief ripple had seemed to flow across a patch of air like a heat haze but all evidence of it having been there had disappeared. Sylux was about to dismiss it as his suits HUD playing up from his earlier beatings when a red insectoid shape sprang from the crates with a shriek.

Weavel and Noxus were taken aback and fired randomly into the air missing their target completely. The kriken deftly flipped over the top of Spire in an acrobatic display and landed right in front of Sylux. Suddenly, despite lacking any visible mouthparts, the kriken began talking in a high pitched chirp. "I am the loyal servant of the numberless Kriken Empire known as Trace. I have come here to…" He was cut off by Noxus who stormed towards the creature in a rage. "I know all about you and your verminous kind" he snarled. "You and the rest of your craven brethren have fought with my people as long as I can remember for no gain other than expanding your cruel empire. You fight without any semblance of honour, I should know as we fought recently on Arcterra, and your species will only be satisfied when every other race is wiped out and you can raid and pillage to your shallow hearts' content."

Trace retaliated viciously, "We are only fighting to survive vhozon, kriken breeding rates mean we are rapidly running out of resources and space. Gladiatorial games only go so far to controlling our population. We only wish to find homes for our people but the high and mighty vhozon and phrygisians do not deem us worthy enough to share the stars with them or donate a few of their planets whose populations barely number a billion between them!" The two looked as if they would come to blows but the other four hunters reminded them that while they were discussing galactic war and the ethical issues it raised Samus was likely progressing towards acquiring another Octolith.

Sylux glanced around at the shaky alliance he had forged and could already see there would be a problem as there were already two distinct camps. Noxus and Spire clearly held onto the notion that the dispute could be settled without Samus' demise and would clearly have objections about the motivation of himself, Weavel, Kanden and Trace. This group wanted Aran dead and sought the Octoliths purely for personal gain which is exactly what Noxus was trying to prevent happening by securing the Ultimate Power first and sealing it away in the Ice Archives on Vho.

As if echoing his thoughts Weavel muttered to Sylux. "Those two will be problematic." Sylux nodded; as soon as Samus had been dealt with he would have to get rid of Spire and Noxus. Not that he would feel guilty or anything. "All allies are expendable" he mused looking at the other hunters before he called the others to attention and began detailing his plan to get his revenge on that accursed bounty hunter.


	7. Let the hunt begin

_Alimbic Cluster, __In orbit around __Arcterra_

The sight of the orange gunship plunging through the upper ice clouds of Arcterra's atmosphere was unmistakable as to who was its owner. Silent as the void, six ships slowly slipped into pursuit of it keeping their distance and relying on the cloaking field produced by Trace's ship to cover them all. They had no need for conversation as they had already agreed on the basic plan. Sylux mulled it over in his head as they began their approach. Land, locate portal artefacts, set an ambush using artefacts as bait, ambush Samus and then his favourite part of the plan, kill Samus. That was how the plan was laid out in theory but, Sylux was an experienced bounty hunter and well aware from years of experience that plans had a habit of going awry. As they continued their descent, Trace's ship broke off to track Samus to wherever she chose as a landing zone while the other five went to land a significant distance away to avoid detection. Trace's chittering voice soon told them that Samus had set down in a place called the Arcterra Gateway. His ship soon materialised into view behind them and the six plunged out of the clouds to a location they had agreed on earlier referred to in Alimbic texts as the Lake of Solace. The lake was vast and in some places was frozen over but occasionally to Sylux's anxiety, enormous fins evidently belonging to some colossal beast burst through the surface of the water and Sylux could just make out a long serpentine shadow beneath the ice. Falling in would probably not be a good idea.

With this in mind the gunships touched down a good distance away from the water on a patch of snow that had no footprints to suggest anything had been there recently. Each of the hunters disembarked from their gunships and they did a quick but thorough check of their surroundings. Satisfied there was no immediate threat and the thing in the lake had not surfaced for some time. They gathered round Weavel's state of the art holographic projector mounted in his chest armour that projected a detailed 3D image, based on the scans his gunship had made, of the entire region. Trace had marked where Samus had landed and a red blip was showing where they would find her gunship.

Weavel began to take them through the plan and several more blips appeared representing other things of significant note. "We have a long trek to reach the Alimbic ruins where we know Samus and the portal to the Octolith will be." Two arrows emerged and zigzagged across the projection leading from their landing zone to the ruins. "These two paths are the best ways we should take. One group will go alongside the lake dealing with predominately flat terrain so trekking should be easy but the distance is greater than the other route that involves a difficult climb navigating icy mountain paths. Both routes converge on the ruins but in different areas so between us we should be able to block Samus' route to her gunship and slowly force her deeper into the ruins." Weavel pressed a button on his armour and the projection disappeared. "The group that goes over the pass should be natural climbers and used to such terrain so, it would be best if Noxus and Spire take that route, and if Sylux, Kanden, Trace and I take the other route. Any objections hunters?" There were none and so without further ado the group spilt and headed to their respective destinations. The hunt was on.


	8. Curiosity killed the Sylux

_Alimbic Cluster, __Arcterra, __Lake of Solace_

Trace moved across the new fallen snow about 10 metres ahead of the others as silent as death itself and the only evidence he had been there were the tiny pin like holes his pointed feet had made in the snow. Kanden moved at the head of the other three sniffing the air and using his complex visual organs check for any heat signs or similar signs of life. Sylux and Weavel were not as stealthy and occasionally Kanden or Trace would shoot a look telling them to be a bit more discreet. They were still close to the lake and Sylux could have sworn he had seen the monster break the surface once or twice so he could understand their concerns.

It was about five minutes later that Weavel began stiffening up and eventually he ground to a halt. "The temperature is colder than expected I need time to apply anti-freeze to my suit." Seeing the disbelieving faces looking at him Weavel added "I am about 90% robotic you know. You think I like the cold just because I can't feel it huh? "Sylux was too exasperated to say anything and even the usually talkatice Trace was stumped. Not giving them any say at all in the matter Weavel sat down and produced a cylinder of glowing blue liquid that he attached to his suit which promptly drained the cylinder. "I will need a few minutes" Weavel said but Sylux and Kanden weren't listening they had spotted something shining in the snow close to the water.

"I'll cover you." Kanden growled. Sylux advanced closer to the object and upon reaching it discovered it to be a decomposing torso in shining power armour. Sylux bent down to examine it. The head had been ripped off completely along with the neck and shoulders. The legs were missing and there was still skin and flesh on the corpse. The cause of death was obvious; huge teeth marks that had penetrated the armour suit with ease and it was a miracle anything had been left at all. The subject had been a humanoid most likely a human although without a proper forensics team it would be hard to confirm. Sylux did find something else of interest; a set of grenades strapped on a belt slung around where the waist should have been. Helping himself, Sylux was about to examine them in greater detail when the sound of Kanden shouting snapped his attention to the present situation. "Get back. Get back." Kanden was yelling and volt driver shots were flying out across the water where Sylux could clearly make out a wave cresting off the head of a gigantic beast. He threw himself to the floor just as the gargantuam mass launched itself out of the water and its vicious jaws snapped shut with a sickening crunch…


	9. A narrow escape

_Alimbic Cluster, __Arcterra, __Lake of Solace_

Sylux watched the remains of the corpse vanish down the massive gullet of the monster and listened to the crunch of flesh and bone as the armour provided it zero defence against the beast's onslaught. Rearing its head back it gulped down the mangled mass of meat before turning its gaze on Sylux who had been rapidly crawling backward from the water not daring to let the beast out of his sight.

He felt a clawed hand on his shoulder and looked round to see Kanden who was dragging him to his feet and they ran away from the creature that was still eyeing them from the water. Weavel, who was moving again, walked over and spoke to them, "It's a Midgard, a huge sea serpent capable of living in freezing cold water and it is utterly carnivorous. To compensate for the general scarcity of prey that live in such cold conditions, its metabolism is slow enough that it can go without eating for sometimes whole years. I think we may have just made it onto its yearly banquet." Trace chuckled drily "If you're lucky Weavel it doesn't like canned food!" Weavel ignored the kriken's joke and continued. "It's method of movement is four sets of powerful fins that are equally spaced down its 20 metre long body although I doubt it can drag itself onto lan…" He was cut off by the sound of the Midgard's grey-blue mass writhing in the water.

Its head was huge and shaped like a lizard's with an enormous maw full of huge crushing and teeth that Sylux noted with fear were barbed. Once it got hold of you, getting loose would prove nigh impossible. The top of its skull was flattened and two blow holes were visible. It had a pair of huge blue eyes with vertical slit pupils and a third eye on the top of its head presumably to spot prey on the surface. On its back were huge grey sails that cut through the water and its fins were stubby but each ended with a set of four claws. The function of these claws soon became apparent as it latched them into the ice and with considerable effort dragged itself clear out of the water and lumbered towards them at a surprisingly quick speed with all eight fins working in tandem.

The hunters leapt out of the way of the Midgard and the huge serpent charged past roaring with frustration. As it passed it swung its huge paddle like tail in a curving motion and Weavel, still sluggish in the cold, was sent flying through the air. Trace was more agile however, and seizing hold of the tail, scampered up its tail and along its back and stabbed his claw like appendages into its neck. The Midgard howled in pain and bucked violently but Trace hung on despite its struggles. This was however, until the Midgard, seemingly wising up, rolled onto its back and if Trace hadn't leapt for safety he would have ended up as little more than a smear in the snow.

With the Midgard on its back the four hunters ran for their lives, all need for stealth completely abandoned. They could hear Midgard's thundering bounds as it charged after them and when Sylux stole a glace over his shoulder he was alarmed to see it gaining on them.

Grinding to a halt Sylux removed a grey grenade from the belt he had taken earlier and threw it at the beast. A cloud of smoke erupted from the grenade and the creature was obscured from vision. He hurled another one, this time red, which spewed flames upon contact and the Midgard howled in pain as parts of it were burnt. It roared and looked as though it would charge again but clearly deciding such dangerous prey was not worth it retreated back towards the lake and disappeared beneath the surface dousing the flames that had spread over it.

From that point on the hunters watched the lake carefully but soon found they were leaving it behind as the ground appeared to slope upwards. They could see high above them an ancient Alimbic watch tower that they knew overlooked the ruins. They reached it without incident and gazed over the land before them.

The Arcterra ruins were effectively in a "bowl", sheltered from blistering blizzards and well hidden from view. The entire layout spanned before them and it was clear it had once been a fully functioning city of a sizeable population. It appeared that the whole city had once had a ceiling of stone blocks to provide shelter that covered it completely and would have made the glistening interior seem rather cosy if dark. Now the ruins were filled with towering ice structures and years of snowfall had filled in large portions of the city so that in those places, only the remains of the tallest buildings or the pillars that had held up the roof remained visible.

On Trace's Imperialist Sniper, a laser sight appeared and Trace pointed it to a tall column like building not far from where they were that protruded just above where the roof would have gone. "That," he declared, "is the Arcterra gateway. The public entrance the Alimbics would have shown visitors into and out of their city. And there," he said moving the beam onto a conspicuous orange object, "is none other than Samus Aran's Gunship."


	10. Contemplation

_Alimbic Cluster_

_Arcterra_

_Glacial Pathways_

Noxus effortlessly swung himself from the mirror smooth icy wall of the crevice onto the peak of a tall ice pillar. Standing to survey the glistening surroundings he heard the rumbling of Spire's Dialanche as it grinded up the ravine spraying chunks of ice everywhere as its sharp unbreakable points dug into the crystalline surface. Spire reached his destination and unfurled from his Dialanche form. "How much farther Snow Master?" He inquired. "Not long now" Noxus replied and sure enough he could see across the ice field an Alimbic monument marking the circumference of the ruins. Noxus was currently distracted by what exactly he was going to do when they reached the ancient city and ambushed Aran. "Spire we must decide what our role is to be in the upcoming battle do we continue to support Sylux and the others and kill Samus or do we find another way? My dilemma stems from the fact that Samus has done great deeds and saved the galaxy on several occasions. If we kill her we may be indirectly helping evil doers to conquer our worlds and end all that we know and care about." Spire replied having clearly been puzzling the issue over as well. "Samus is not a bad person and as far as I am concerned is no enemy of the Diamont people. The others have their reasons for seeing her dead Snow Master, but I will side with you when it comes to our course of action. All I want is to see if the Ultimate Power can help me learn about my people; permitting you will allow me to use it for that I will assist you." Noxus contemplated before answering, "I will grant you your request and this is to be our course of action listen close for there can be no time for hesitation when we make our move."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry this chapter is short but it is here primarily as a filler to show what Noxus and Spire are up to. These two are not being neglected in favour of the other four as their time is fast approaching and hopefully you will stay with this story long enough to read about it.<strong>


	11. Intruders will not be tolerated

_Alimbic Cluster_

_Arcterra_

_Arcterra Ruins_

The interior walls of the ruins had partially collapsed, allowing Sylux and the others to descend into the "bowl" not far from where they had arrived looking down into the ruins. Kanden had very nearly caused an avalanche when he tripped and went rolling down the snow drift but otherwise they had entered the ruins without incident.

That had changed when they had gone less than 100 metres and had stumbled into an Alimbic trap. From the supposedly deserted, derelict, stone buildings a pack of guardians had materialised and activated several devices that had promptly produced a swarm of irritating psychobits that flew to attack them while the guardians hid inside the buildings and used their heavier weaponry. Kanden sprinted forward using his Volt Driver's rapid fire to tear into the cloud of flying robots ripping their fragile bodies apart with the extreme velocity of his weapon.

The surviving drones returned fire, focusing their attacks on Weavel but his battle armour rendered the bolts of energy useless as they harmless were absorbed by the suits protective plating. Sylux's Shock Coil activated yet another function this time propelling a ring of electricity into the air which encircled the psychobits. On Sylux's command the Storm Trap contracted and a storm of energy was unleashed on the unfortunate robots which were scattered into atoms.

A round of high power energy shells were fired from a guardian that had appeared in an upstairs window and Sylux threw himself to the icy ground as the intelligent construct unleashed another salvo. Trace came to his rescue as the agile Kriken took a run up, somersaulted and flew straight at the guardian. In mid-air Trace succeeded in sniping it in the head as he flew through the window kicking its now dead form to the ground. Sylux picked himself up as another guardian leapt out of the building its powerful legs carrying it through the air to just in front of him. Sylux dodged a vicious kick from it before draining its energy and releasing the surplus power back at the guardian in the form of a red bolt. The bolt completely overloaded the machine's systems and the guardian staggered about firing wildly and inadvertently succeeded in killing another Alimbic droid that had left the safety of the building, before it too collapsed in a heap and exploded.

Sylux glanced around spotting the sight of Kanden and Weavel who were pinned behind a fallen icicle by a trio of guardians that were slowly advancing. With a battle cry Kanden and Weavel leapt up with Kanden activating an organic shield that grew out of his non-Volt Driver arm. It was the same colour as the rest of Kanden and sprouted out of his forearm in the form of large muscular tendrils that flailed around before hardening and binding into a huge plate that protected the majority of his body leaving only his ankles exposed. It was shaped so that Kanden could easily look over it, at the cost of increased vulnerability, and still fire with his Volt Driver although his accuracy would be much worsened by the obstruction of his Carapace Wall. Kanden charged towards the trio of guardians whose bullets ricocheted off the shield. Weavel advanced in tandem behind Kanden firing Battlehammer shots over the top of Kanden all the while protected by his ally's Carapace Wall. Weavel's shots took out two guardians and Kanden slammed into the other one driving it back and impaling it on sharp spikes that stabbed out of the shield. Kanden carried on going and smashed clean into a building obliterating a section of wall that caused the entire structure to pitch forward and bury a pack of guardians under rubble. Kanden emerged from the cloud of wreckage unscathed and retracted his shield back into his arm.

A guardian head landed by Sylux's feet and he spun round to see Trace dismembering another guardian with his sharp appendages before landing a headshot on another with his Imperialist. Satisfied the threat had been dealt with they all took a moment to recover and heal their injuries which were thankfully minor. Trace was inquiring Kanden as to the numerous biological and cybernetic implants he had received when Sylux spotted a shadow pass across another ruined building in the distance. Silently the hunters arose and crept forward slowly, taking cover in the darkness of an ice cave that had been tunnelled out of the solid ice. They watched as the shadow moved further down the pathway towards them. As the figure came into view a malicious sense of glee spread throughout all four of them with Kanden visibly quivering with anticipation. Sylux was now entirely fixated on the oblivious figure who was scanning an Alimbic Dais with her back to them. Samus Aran was less than twenty metres away from them with no idea of their presence. In one fluid motion, Trace moved, silently as death, out of the darkness, raised his arm and aimed the Imperialist at the back of her head. A shot rang out.

* * *

><p><strong>As no doubt you have probably realised i am expanding the hunters arsenal of weaponry. I will leave a note of the new abilites introduced in this chapter.<strong>

**Kanden: Carapace Wall**

**Sylux: Storm Trap**


	12. The alliance revealed

**BAM! I have me an update. I hope you enjoy as the hunters finally go arm cannon to cannon with their quarry!**

**I must confess to be being unsure as to how I want to end this fic so if people have any great ideas please leave a review detailing such an idea.**

**Enjoy!**

Alimbic Cluster

Arcterra

Arcterra Ruins

Trace flew back through the air howling having just taken a missile to the chest. The Kriken hit the snow with a thump and laid still. Sylux glanced at Kanden and Weavel with dumbstruck awe before they realised that Trace, having forgotten to cloak himself had been spotted by Samus in the highly reflective dais she had been examining. Samus began moving towards the unconscious Trace with her arm cannon still raised. Kanden chose this moment to strike bursting out of cover and charging straight at Samus who spun to face him and leapt effortlessly out of the way of the charging enoema who howled with frustration. Weavel and Sylux advanced steadily, calmly stepping out of the cave and walked with definite purpose towards Samus who noticed them and visibly gasped. Behind her Kanden was approaching and Trace having regained consciousness stood up somewhat shakily but with enough focus to aim his gun at her.

Samus spun round in a circle moving her gaze from one hunter to another. The four of them had her encircled and Sylux could see through Samus' visor the confusion, shock and then grim realisation that played across her features as she realised they were working together with the clear intention of killing her. Sylux emitted a throaty chuckle before all four advanced weapons trained on the orange clad woman who was searching in vain for a way out. Suddenly with a slow deliberate move, Samus raised her gun and fired a solitary missile vertically towards the icicle covered roof.

Icicles and chunks of masonry began raining down as the ancient ceiling groaned from the structural damage it had just taken. Samus took advantage of their confusion and bolted. She sprinted away from them and tackled Kanden who had made a lunge for her as she darted by. Sylux shouted the order to give chase and the hunters set off in pursuit fleeing from the barrage that had rained down upon them. Trace aimed his Imperialist again but his peerless aim was thwarted by a chunk of rock that he stumbled over and his shot missed Samus' helmet. It did however; create visible battle damage to one of her near-spherical shoulder plates. Kanden clambered up a building and sprinted along its roof before leaping off and landing on Samus knocking them both to the ground. Kanden's claws left several gashes on Samus' armour but the damage was not significant and Kanden had underestimated his target's close combat skills. Samus swung her arm cannon which hit Kanden over the head with a resounding clonk before she kicked the stunned creature off with both legs.

Weavel attempted to blast Samus off her feet with his high powered weapon but she agilely ducked and weaved around the projectiles. Spotting a small hole at the bottom of a wall Samus dived for it going into morph ball as she went. Her pursuers followed as the five of them rolled, slithered or crawled through the twisting pipes of what must have once been the Alimbic under floor heating. Weavel at the lead of the pack grabbed the Morph Ball and tried to crush it between his powerful forelimbs. He was rewarded by Samus dropping a bomb and promptly escaping his grasp.

They all emerged from the tunnel into the area where Trace had previously fought Noxus before they had both been interrupted by Samus on her first visit to Arcterra. Samus immediately began sprinting for the door that would lead back to her gunship but Kanden was too quick and cut her off blocking the route with his hulking form. Trace leapt onto her back and attempted to stab her with his claws but Samus managed to grab hold of him and flung him into the snow. She was prepared to finish off the upstart Kriken when suddenly she was lifted up into the air by Kanden and flung against a stone wall which crumbled as she flew through it. She rose quickly and kicked the approaching Kanden in the head before firing a charge beam shot that carried him back onto Trace and they both collapsed in a heap.

Weavel and Sylux who had been watching the battle with a mixture of horror and intrigue discussed how best to deal with the situation as Kanden threw himself yet again at Samus, Volt Driver firing away. "I reckon I can hack the security in this place to lock down the route leading back to her gunship" Sylux uttered. "I will need some time to establish control though." Weavel nodded and leapt into battle to fight Samus, Energy Scythe drawn. Samus immediately saw the danger and back flipped the horizontal slice and rolled to the side to avoid the follow up swipe. Going into Morph Ball and boosting into Weavel's armour served only to stun the armoured juggernaut and Samus soon found herself on the retreat from the increasingly frenzied slices the Space Pirate sent her way his lust for revenge seemingly overwhelming his senses.

Samus was, before long, backed up against a wall with Weavel charging in to deliver yet another blow with Samus having nowhere to run to. Kanden and Trace were cheering Weavel to finish her but once again they had underestimated their opponent as the bounty hunter ducked down into Morph Ball and avoided the attack and the scythe became stuck in the wall. Weavel fought to pull his weapon out of the wall to no avail as Samus yet again ran for the exit with no one to stop her.

The hatch was just ahead of her and her gunship not far beyond that when suddenly the light of the door died out and an eerie blue force field spread across it with green lines crisscrossing the field. Samus spun round and yet again was confronted by the sight of all four of her assailants walking towards her. "The net is closing Samus," Sylux addressed her coldly. "How much longer can you run before you are backed into a corner, alone begging for mercy as so many of my people were while you slaughtered them? How much longer before you are bleeding on the floor, helpless waiting for the end as Weavel did after you ruined his body? Run then but know we will surely follow." Samus sprayed the hunters with a barrage of missiles and ran across the room leaping onto the bridge at its centre and running through another door deeper into the ruins and further away from her ship. All the while she was pursued by the alliance hell bent on her destruction.


End file.
